Abstract
The spatial contrast sensitivity (CS) to static patterns was tested in the central retina of 156 normal subjects. It showed a decrease above 50 years of age at all spatial frequencies tested which was slightly more pronounced in females than in males. The spatial CS was also studied in 32 glaucoma eyes: Small reductions were found only in the group below 50 but not in eyes of patients above 50. The spatiotemporal CS to phase-reversing patterns was tested in four retinal quadrants of 99 normal subjects. It showed no age dependence in males whereas in females it decreased significantly beyond 50 years at all spatial frequencies tested. The spatiotemporal CS was studied also in 21 glaucoma eyes: Strong losses were again noted only in patients below 50. Spatiotemporal CS losses and perimetric losses were also compared in the four quadrants: For both measures the severest losses were found in the lower nasal and the mildest in the upper temporal quadrant. The spatiotemporal CS test of the peripheral retina seems to be a more powerful tool in glaucoma research than the spatial CS test of the central retina; however, effects of age and gender have to be considered.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arden GB (1978) The importance of measuring contrast sensitivity in cases of visual disturbance. Br J Ophthalmol 62:198–209
Arden GB, Jacobson JJ (1978) A simple grating test for contrast sensitivity: preliminary results indicate value in screening for glaucoma. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 17:23–32
Arundale K (1978) An investigation into the variation of human contrast sensitivity with age and ocular pathology. Br J Ophthalmol 62:213–215
Atkin A, Bodis-Wollner I, Wolkstein M, Moss A, Podos SM (1979) Abnormalities of central contrast sensitivity in glaucoma. Am J Ophthalmol 88:205–211
Atkin A, Wolkstein M, Bodis-Wollner I, Anders M, Kels B, Podos SM (1980) Interocular comparison of contrast sensitivities in glaucoma patients and suspects. Br J Ophthalmol 64:858–862
Aulhorn E (1979) Pros and cons of quick-test in glaucoma perimetry. In: Kriegelstein GK, Leydhecker W (eds) Glaucoma update. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 79–92
Beazley LD, Illingworth DJ, Jahn A, Greer DV (1980) Contrast sensitivity in children and adults. Br J Ophthalmol 64:863–866
Bodis-Wollner I (1972) Visual acuity and contrast sensitivity in patients with cerebral lesions. Science 178:769–771
Bradley A, Freeman RD (1982) Contrast sensitivity in children. Vision Res 22: 553–559
Campbell FW, Robson JG (1968) Application of Fourier analysis to the visibility of gratings. J Physiol 197:551–566
Cooper RL, Constable I, Terrell A (1980) Mass screening for glaucoma and other eye disease using the Arden grating test. Aust J Opthalmol 8:131–137
Daitch JM, Green DG (1969) Contrast sensitivity of the human peripheral retina. Vision Res 9:947–952
Derefeldt G, Lennerstrand G, Lundh B (1979) Age variations in normal human contrast sensitivity. Acta Ophthalmol (Copenh) 57:679–690
Dressler M, Rassow B (1981) Neural contrast sensitivity measurements with a laser interference system for clinical and screening application. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 21:737–744
Ginsburg AP, Cannon MW (1983) Comparison of three methods for rapid determination of threshold contrast sensitivity. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 24:798–802
Hitchings RA, Powell DJ, Arden GB, Carter RM (1981) Contrast sensitivity gratings in glaucoma family screening. Br J Ophthalmol 65:515–517
Littmann H (1984) Zur Bestimmung der wahren Größe eines Objektes auf dem Augenhintergrund des lebenden Auges. Klin Monatsbl Augenheilkd 180:286–289
Lundh BL, Lennerstrand G (1981) Eccentric contrast sensitivity loss in glaucoma. Acta Ophthalmol (Copenh) 59:21–24
McGrath C, Morrison JD (1981) The effects of age on spatial frequency perception in human subjects. Q J Exp Physiol 66:253–261
Motolko M, Drance SM, Douglas GR (1982) The early psycho-physical disturbances in chronic open-angle glaucoma. A study of visual functions with asymmetric cupping. Arch Ophthalmol 100:1632–1634
Owsley C, Sekuler R, Siemsen D (1983) Contrast sensitivity throughout adulthood. Vision Res 23:689–699
Owsley C, Gardner I, Sekuler R, Lieberman H (1985) Role of the crystalline lens in the spatial vision loss of the elderly. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 26:1165–1170
Ross JE, Bron AJ, Clarke DD (1984) Contrast sensitivity and visual disability in chronic simple glaucoma. Br J Ophthalmol 68:821–827
Ross JE, Bron AJ, Reeves BC, Emmerson PG (1985) Detection of optic nerve damage in ocular hypertension. Br J Ophthalmol 69:897–903
Ross JE, Clarke DD, Bron AJ (1985) Effect of age on contrast sensitivity function: uniocular and binocular findings. Br J Ophthalmol 69:51–56
Schade OH (1956) Optical and photoelectric analog of the eye. J Opt Soc Am [A] 46: 721–739
Sekuler R, Hutman LP (1980) Spatial vision and aging. I: Contrast sensitivity. J Gerontol 35:692–699
Sekuler R, Hutman LP, Owsley CJ (1980) Human aging and spatial vision. Science 209:1255–1256
Singh H, Cooper RL, Alder VA, Crawford GJ, Terrell A, Constable IJ (1981) The Arden grating acuity: effects of age and optical factors in the normal patient, with prediction of the false-negative rate in screening for glaucoma. Br J Ophthalmol 65:518–524
Skalka HW (1980) Effect of age on Arden grating acuity. Br J Ophthalmol 64:21–23
Skrandies W (1985) Human contrast sensitivity: regional retinal differences. Hum Neurobiol 4:97–99
Sokol S, Domar A, Moskowitz A (1980) Utility of the Arden grating test in glaucoma screening: high false-positive rate in normals over 50 years of age. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 19: 1529–1533
Stamper RL, Hsu-Winges C, Sopher M (1982) Arden contrast sensitivity testing in glaucoma. Arch Ophthalmol 100:947–950
Tyler CW (1981) Specific deficits of flicker sensitivity in glaucoma and ocular hypertension. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 20:204–212
Tyler CW, Ryu S, Stamper R (1984) The relation between visual sensitivity and intraocular pressure in normal eyes. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 25:103–105
Vaegan, Halliday BL (1982) A forced-choice test improves clinical contrast sensitivity testing. Br J Ophthalmol 66:477–491
Weale RA (1975) Senile changes in visual acuity. Trans Ophthalmol Soc UK 95:36–38
Weatherhead RG (1980) Use of the Arden grating test for screening. Br J Ophthalmol 64: 591–596
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Ko 510/3-3) and by the J. and F. Marohn Foundation of the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, FRG
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Korth, M., Horn, F., Storck, B. et al. Spatial and spatiotemporal contrast sensitivity of normal and glaucoma eyes. Graefe's Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 227, 428–435 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02172893
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02172893